Search the ArchivesNavigation Contact InformationThe Citizen Newspapers For Advertising Information Email us your news! For technical difficulties |
Candlelight vigil held for Fayette inmateTue, 04/17/2007 - 4:30pm
By: Ben Nelms
It was a low-key affair April 12 at Fayetteville City Hall as two dozen members of the Cool Rahim V.O.T.S. (Victims of the System) Foundation, Fayette County NAACP and others offered prayers and held a quiet candlelight vigil for Rahim Grant, being held without bond in Fayette County Jail on multiple charges stemming from incidents in May and September 2006. It was also an occasion for NAACP to show support for others they say did not receive fair treatment within the judicial system. “I’m not here for the Cool Rahim V.O.T.S. Foundation, I’m here for the NAACP. V.O.T.S. is not just in Fayette County. We’re going all over. Right now we’ve covered four states,” said Geraldine Grant, Fayette NAACP Legal Redress Board Chairman and mother of Rahim Grant. “We’re here to make sure that the complaints registered with the NAACP are met. So this event is a joint venture that combines the Cool Rahim Foundation, the NAACP and voter registration. If we get enough votes maybe we’ll able to get things back on the right track. It’s about civil rights and the rights of those that have been violated. It’s not about me being Rahim’s mom.” Grant said her son is in jail awaiting trail in September on charges of aggravated assault and making terroristic threats. Grant maintained that the reason for the candlelight vigil is more far-reaching. “Rahim is in jail for two aggravated assault charges and a charge of making terroristic threats. The organization is trying to not let him be in jail for something he didn’t do,” Grant said before the meeting. “But I don’t want anybody to talk about just getting Rahim off because he did something. Just give him the chance to prove his case without keeping him in jail and not having any evidence. But it’s not about my son, Rahim. It’s about a national thing about civil rights for all, black, white, every color. Nobody should be mistreated. If you’re not going to be treated fair then you should be sent to a judicial system that will treat you fair. If we can’t get fair treatment here in Fayette County then we must go somewhere else.” In attendance at the vigil was Peachtree City resident Phyllis Blake, Fayette County NAACP’s new president. Blake said she attended the event at Grant’s request. “She has formed a foundation, Cool Rahim V.O.T.S., and she has invited many people from the community to come. I’m here simply because it’s a foundation to raise money to take care of young men and women who are incarcerated and cannot afford an attorney. If those funds can be raised, many of them will have the opportunity to a fair trial.” Blake said she had received letters from two 17-year-olds about their situation. One of those, Blake said, received a 10-year sentence after claiming he was arrested while present at a crack cocaine sting, though claiming he had not been in possession of any drugs. “He was told to plea or get 30 years. I don’t know this young man but my heart goes out to him and his family. So that’s the reason for this foundation, and I support (Grant) in this effort because it’s needed. I would suggest anyone who would like to contribute to the organization do so and help these young people. Because at this point the NAACP cannot really do anything. The only thing we can do is to suggest they get an attorney and appeal their sentence. The other thing we would suggest is that they not come to Fayette County and sell drugs. Get an education, read the Bible and vote and get on the right track. And I would request that parents follow up and make sure their kids are trying to get a decent education. We’ve got to educate our young people. Do not come to Fayette County with drugs. You are going to jail and you’ll be there for a long time.” Also attending the April 12 event was Rahim’s girlfriend Amber Wilson. It was Wilson who was shot during the incident that led to the most recent charges being filed against Rahim Grant. Wilson said she had been handling a handgun and had dropped it, resulting in what she said was a misfire that struck her in the right shoulder. Wilson said Grant had been in the room but had not touched the gun. Then and now, Wilson said she took issue with the way Grant’s arrest came about. “He was arrested without the police even talking to me. I think that’s a little bit ridiculous because me and him are the only people who know what happened,” Wilson said, adding that she was told in a subsequent conversation with a district attorney’s representative that her story was not believed because Grant provides her financial stability. Wilson said she is anxious to have the full circumstances of the incident explained during Grant’s trail. Rahim Grant, then 17, was arrested in September 2006 for allegedly shooting Wilson at his home. Grant claimed Wilson was shot after the gun she was handling discharged after being dropped. Grant was subsequently charged with aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and possession of a firearm by a person under 18. Those charges resulted in Grant being held without bond in Fayette County Jail due to previous charges of attempted carjacking and making terroristic threats in a May 2006 incident, for which he had been out on bond. login to post comments
|
Copyright 2010 - Fayette Publishing, Inc. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use Policy
Server 4
